Book bench by Jacqueline le Blue, €695.
Cut out most of the inside pages of the books and attach the bindings to plywood to make this a functional piece of furniture. Leave an inch of paper on the edges that will show. www.cncpt13.com

The Portrait Chair (recycled books, wood, steel) at Freeman Centennial School is made from classic and popular books. The seat of the chair is cut to expose a variety of print surface. The most avid readers from the library are celebrated by having their photograph taken in ‘The Chair’. By Mags Harries. harriesheder.com

Book Chair at the Olive B. Day Elementary School is made from children’s books sandwiched together with the titles are visible. The most avid readers from the school are celebrated by having their photograph taken in the Chair. By Mags Harries. harriesheder.com

Rug made of Books.Bibliophilism was created from discarded books, rescued from library dumpsters, estate sales and donations. These books had seemingly lost the purpose for which they were originally intended. By pamelapaulsrud.com

4 Comments

As a person who covets literature, it’s tragic to see books used to create furniture. If you’re done with your books, donate them to hospitals, senior citizen residential living libraries, or thrift shops.

Hilary. I totally disagree. Many books have outdated information (non-fiction) and others may be missing pages, torn spines and other damage that renders them useless for reading but this shows that books still have value even beyond reading.

not all books are timeless literature. accounting books whose methods are no longer in use, building codes out of date, textbooks whose graphics or lack of them make them so boring no one will open them, law books whose laws are extinct. these are just a ‘few good books’ which have outlived their time. another category are very useful titles, but they have been mishandled — rain, coffee, crayolas, highlighters, tears, gum, car tires, etc.

We re-purpose books in this manner as well. Textbooks are quickly outdated and would end up as shred or in a landfill. Making something useful from them is not only logical, but the opposite of tragic. Of course, we don’t use First Editions or Rarities…

Anyway, disregard those who don’t know any better…..these are AWESOME!